I have seen a few of my fave bloggers do a list of their favourite things, and was also tagged to do one by Sweet T’s Sweet Things so I thought, before that bandwagon rolls out of town I would jump on it and do my own…
1. Home comforts [special mention to bubble baths]
Last year I trekked round Thailand for five weeks, living out of my backpack, sleeping on jungle floors and listening to the sea as I fell asleep. I loved every second of it, but by the final week, man, I just missed.my.bed. It made me realise that I love travelling and seeing the world but that there is also a lot that can be said for a bubble bath, clean sheets, lying on the sofa under a blanket and having snoozy Sundays watching box sets and drinking hot chocolate. I really, really love my home comforts.
2. The sea
The sea has been a fairly concurrent fixture throughout my life; I was born in Cornwall in a small village named Porthleven and then moved to a town called Helston – both by the seaside. Later we moved to the Hampshire coast and I spent many an hour as a child walking along the beach with my Mum and have always enjoyed the sound of the sea and find it relaxing and, reassuring almost. Now I am all grown up I work in the maritime sector and met my other half whilst sailing and I am sure that the sea will always be a big part of my life.
3. Doggy
Confession time – I sleep with a stuffed animal – well, he is losing his stuffing actually. He has also lost his ears, tail and one of his eyes. I was given Doggy on the day after I was born so he is also 26 years old and I can’t bear to be without him!
4. The boy
Yeah, I know, bit cheesy and yuck but I would be lying if I didn’t say that my other half wasn’t one of my favourite things. Before meeting Tom I went out with the classic ‘bad boys’ who treated me like rubbish, messed me around and preferred their guitar/skateboard/other girlfriends (delete as appropriate) to me. Now I have a boyfriend who can’t do enough for me, buys me flowers, generally romances me and even does my ironing/washing/washing up just because it’s a nice thing to do. I have to pinch myself sometimes that I have someone who treats me so nicely, and after a lot of uncertainty and general relationship crapness it is an amazing feeling knowing I have met the man that I will marry. (Incidentally, Tom’s love is also in the photo above – yep, his red VW Transporter van in the background!)
5. Christmas
Argh… I just love Christmas so damn much! Mulled wine, hats and gloves, buying presents, board games, roast dinner, being around my family, Christmas markets, crap TV… I love it all! I tend to go a bit crazy with Christmas shopping – I love nothing better than seeing a family member’s face when they unwrap something I know they’ll love.
6. Getting older
Even though I am only 26 years old, sometimes when I look at my hobbies and what I usually spent a weekend doing, I feel much older. In my time, of course I have had my years of going out drinking every night and staying out till the early hours – as a student I used to know what day it was by which club night we’d been to the night before – but these days I have become a boring grown-up who grows her own vegetables, is more ‘pub’ than ‘club’ and likes baking and recipe books. These days I am more likely to get excited about a bubble bath and a nine o’ clock bedtime than a night on the tiles – and I love it.
7. Eating
Ugh, I know, how gluttonous and greedy! But I don’t care, I love to eat. Since I don’t go out partying any more I am much more likely to be found in Pizza Express of an evening, coveting a plate of garlic dough balls and pepperoni pizza (and a large glass of wine, of course). Eating is very much a social occasion for me; I love having friends over for dinner or going out to eat, and don’t get me started on my uncontrollable sugar addiciton.
8. Road trips
Despite my love for flopping on the sofa and soaking in the bath, I am also a very, very big fan of adventures and trips, and try and spend time at weekends getting out and seeing (and snapping) things. Whether it’s kicking leaves around in the New Forest, going for walks along the seafront or visiting new towns and cities I love being able to come back to work on the Monday and have a story to tell. This hobby of mine is helped by the other half having a campervan, in which, in the last few months we have had trips away to Cornwall and spent two weeks driving around France. We will also be spending New Year’s Eve in the Lake District – can’t wait.
9. Dexter
I only started watching Dexter about a month ago but it’s so flippin’ good! I have just started series two and already I am totally gripped. The only downside is I sometimes get a bit scared before I go to bed if I’ve watched too many. Yeah, I’m a massive wuss!
10. Lots of other things I’ve missed….
No list of my favourite things would be complete without Pancake the hamster, film photography, ‘me time’, reading – especially Chuck Palahniuk, Kurt Vonnegut and Douglas Coupland, receiving post, scrapbooks, listening to music on my lovely headphones, milkshakes, and of course, my wonderful friends and family.
All images except for 3 and 4 from weheartit.com
